Patriots overcome Broncos and brutal, snowy conditions to book place in Super Bowl | NFL

They are back.

The New England Patriots overcame an overachieving understudy in a Denver snowstorm to return to the Super Bowl for the first time in seven years and are one win away from a worst-to-first triumph orchestrated by a new head coach and a stellar second-year quarterback.

Mike Vrabel coached the Patriots to a 10-7 victory over the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday and they advance to Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium near San Francisco on February 8.

This will be New England’s first appearance in the NFL showpiece since 2019, when they beat the Los Angeles Rams in Atlanta. Compared to the Patriots dynasty of the Bill Belichick and Tom Brady era, this iteration is decent rather than dominant, and perhaps a year or two ahead of schedule.

After all, the quarterback, Drake Maye, is 23 years old and in only his second season in the NFL and this was only his third playoff game. He’s a fast-emerging special talent, however, leading a versatile and resilient group that adapted effectively after early struggles against Denver, defended valiantly and did just enough to beat undermanned opponents who didn’t make the most of their chances in what turned into a dour contest in horrible weather.

Maye will be the youngest quarterback to start in a Super Bowl since Dan Marino in 1985. “What an atmosphere out here, battling the elements. I love this team,” Maye told CBS Sports after the game. “It wasn’t ideal; the defense stepped up in every barrage. We’re going to play better.”

By reaching the Super Bowl in his first season as head coach, Vrabel joins a club that has only seven other members. The 50-year-old former Patriots linebacker, a three-time Super Bowl winner as a player, spent six seasons as head coach of the Tennessee Titans, losing the AFC championship game to Kansas City six years ago. Now he has the opportunity to win again as a Patriot and become the first man to win the title as a player and coach on the same team. “Since day one he’s been the same guy, he coaches hard but at the same time he cares about us a lot,” Maye said.

Vrabel paid tribute to his players’ ability to adapt. “We found different ways [to win] this whole season. Today the conditions were different and we did what we had to do to win a football match,” he told CBS.

New England is the first NFL team to go 9-0 on the road and tied the San Francisco 49ers’ record of 40 all-time playoff wins with the success. The script-flipping Patriots endured two 4-13 regular seasons, then jumped to 14-3 in this campaign with a perfect road record.

They were pregame favorites, especially after comfortable wins over the Los Angeles Chargers and Houston Texans in the wildcard and divisional rounds. It was clear, however, that the previous week’s victory owed much to a miserable afternoon for CJ Stroud, the Texans’ limp-armed and possibly blindfolded quarterback.

And in Denver, they took advantage of the absence of Bo Nix, Denver’s first-choice quarterback, who fractured his ankle late in a 33-30 overtime victory over the Buffalo Bills a week earlier in the divisional round. He watched from an executive box at Empower Field after the surgery and initially liked what he saw of his replacement, Jarrett Stidham, an obscure journeyman thrust into the spotlight.

The 29-year-old made his first start in 749 days. Stidham and Joe Webb of the Minnesota Vikings (in January 2013) are the only quarterbacks since 1950 to start a playoff game without a passing yard to their name in the same season, according to ESPN. Entering the afternoon with 20 NFL regular-season appearances and four starts, Stidham had the fewest career starts of any quarterback in a conference championship game since 1970.

Before Sunday, his main contribution to the team appeared to be providing a portable stereo nicknamed Mr Turtle that he uses to “keep the mood going in the locker room.” But it didn’t take him long to find his rhythm against the Patriots. Strutting, blinking and smiling, acting like he was center stage every week, the back-up flourished.

Naturally, New England attacked Stidham from the opening seconds. But a 52-yard throw to Marvin Mims early in the first quarter set up the opening touchdown, with Stidham then finding an open Courtland Sutton in the end zone.

Perhaps swept up in the strong start, Denver head coach Sean Payton — the 62-year-old former New Orleans Saints boss who led the franchise to its only Super Bowl title in February 2010 — made a typically aggressive decision. Denver went for a fourth down rather than kicking a field goal and increasing the lead to 10-0. It backfired when an incomplete pass gave possession back to the visitors and ultimately proved fatal in a game the Broncos lost by three points.

But at the time, it sent a signal of confidence. And what did Maye and the Patriots say? Very little. New England was bamboozled and behind, with Denver looking sharp, determined and positive until everything fell apart in a matter of seconds. An unforced error by Stidham late in the second quarter led to a third loss of possession as he backpedaled and threw the ball backwards when tackled, with officials ruling it a fumble. Maye then ran a short distance into the end zone for a touchdown. The smiles stopped. It was quite a change of atmosphere.

Wil Lutz missed a 54-yard field goal for Denver with 20 seconds left in the half; There was still time for a 63-yard Andres Borregales kick attempt for New England that drifted away.

Borregales gave the Patriots the lead in the third quarter with a 23-yard field goal to cap a long drive as snowflakes fluttered and then fell. With visibility reducing by the minute in the blowing snow and the Patriots’ white uniforms increasingly camouflaged, the New England kicker tacked a 46-yard effort to the right.

Denver worked hard despite the reprieve and the mood at Mile High went from sparkling to flat as they were smothered in the slippery snow. The Broncos were experts in comebacks this season, but this game became a battle of arctic attrition: far from pretty, no one could see what was happening with much clarity, let alone chart a path forward.

With less than five minutes on the clock, Lutz’s potentially game-tying 45-yard field goal attempt was deflected. And with 2 minutes and 11 seconds remaining, Stidham went long but his too-risky throw was intercepted. Denver’s last best chance was gone and the good vibes from the backup quarterback were a distant memory. Meanwhile, a new generation of Patriots seems to be falling back into the franchise’s old routine.